Attaining substantial success in this line of business goes beyond just making good and tasty meals; it also involves ensuring a safe environment for your customers and employees.
One of the most essential safety features in your food truck is the flooring. If you own a food truck, then you already understand how vital the material you use for your floor is. You have to understand that keeping your food truck floor clean is very pertinent to your business.
The primary reason for this is that food trucks are always expected to be hygienically maintained to safeguard the health of the truck’s customers as well as to stay in line with health codes and regulations.
Ensuring that your floor is clean goes on to reflect your mobile kitchen’s commitment to excellence and food safety. The cleanliness of a food truck’s floor directly impacts the quality of the food it produces. This is not an easy feat especially since one of the biggest challenges of a busy food truck is keeping the kitchen clean.
With a wide range of activities taking place all the time, regular cleaning can be quite daunting if you barely have a system in place.
Tips to Clean a Food Truck Floor
Food trucks come in varying designs and layouts, and as such there is no stipulated process for cleaning a food truck floor. Nevertheless, to ensure that you can have a clean interior that is safe for your workers and hygienic enough to cater to the nutritional needs of your patrons, below are food truck tips to help meet this highest cleaning standard:
1. Clean your floor drains
One thing you need to understand is that grease, dirt, and debris can clog your food truck drains quickly owing to the activities that take place in those zones. As such, to ensure they are always clear, endeavor to clean them regularly with a drain cleaner or snake.
2. Sweep and mop daily
Ensure to sweep and mop your floor because it is very necessary to ensure you keep it clean. It is important you do it every day, especially in areas with a lot of foot traffic.
3. Clean under and behind equipment
Most often, we all tend to neglect or rather forget about cleaning under and behind the food truck’s equipment. There are many ways these can impact the cleanliness of the truck floors, especially since this area can quickly become cluttered and dirty. Make sure you incorporate it into your cleaning routine.
4. Avoid cross-contamination
Cross-contamination has proven to be a valid problem in the food truck industry, and this tends to take place once bacteria or other contaminants are transferred from one surface to another. To limit this, clean and sanitize all surfaces, utensils, and equipment before and after a workday.
5. Store equipment properly
Also make sure that all your equipment is appropriately cleaned after use and stored properly when not in use. This encompasses putting away all food items, utensils, and chemicals. You can use stove covers and plastic to prevent debris and dust from accumulating.
6. Evaluate cleaning crew and employees
If you intend to use external cleaning services, then you need to make sure that the cleaning crews have the proper certification. To eliminate the likelihood of mistakes and inconsistencies in cleaning, always make sure to work with the same cleaning crews each time.
7. Go Green
The most prevalent chemical used in food truck cleaning is bleach. Although it will most definitely kill germs, it doesn’t contribute to a healthy environment. Experts believe that bleach is the number one enemy of worker health and the environment.
Aside from the fact that they cause irritation for individuals with asthma and allergies, they are known to cause dangerous chemical reactions when mixed with other common substances in a food service setting. As such, consider safer, more effective, and environmentally friendly alternatives.
8. Routine Cleaning Schedule
You must make sure you assign daily, weekly, and monthly schedules to each cleaning task the truck needs. Maintaining a clean food truck floor can be a full-time job for vendors, and when your lines are massive it can be even more challenging to stay on top of it.
Nevertheless, sacrificing as much time and effort as required will ensure a more successful and smoother mobile food business. Truth be told, keeping your food truck clean doesn’t have to be difficult.